DEVELOPMENT OF MICROCHANNEL THIN-LAYER CHROMATOGRAPHY WITH INFRARED MICROSPECTROSCOPIC DETECTION

A new thin-layer chromatography (TLC) technique termed microchannel TL C, is described. Channels, having the dimensions 400 mu m X 200 mu m X 5 cm (W X D X L), have been packed with a zirconia stationary phase a nd used for TLC. Subsequent infrared microspectroscopic detection of o rganic dyes separated in these channels provided excellent diffuse ref lectance spectra and an improvement in the minimum identifiable quanti ty by a factor of about 500 times over previous TLC work using microsc ope slides. This technique also requires smaller amounts of sample and stationary phase compared to conventional TLC techniques. A practical application of the separation and identification of four polyaromatic hydrocarbons (two of which are isomers) is also shown.